2 September 2012

Long break

The rental car we used during the 3 weeks' long visit. A Buick Enclave, one of the best cars I ahve ever driven. Unfortunately no company in Norway imports this brand.

I haven't blogged for quite a while. The long break was mainly caused by my visit to the United States from 13 July to 4 August and work and other commitments both before and after my vacation. I am still quite busy with various commitments both at and off work, so I am not sure how often I will be able to write. Just have to wait and see how things develop. The work on my website is progressing slowly as well, but I will soon pay the bills to continue Hoelseth.com for at least one more year.

My round-trip in the United States together with my wife and daughter took me to some familiar but also many new places: Arlington, Alexandria and Williamsburg, Virginia; Rockville, Maryland; Outer Banks and Raleigh, North Carolina; Charleston, West Virginia; Franklin and Kirtland, Ohio (with excursions!); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Gaithersburg, Maryland and at the end of the tour Alexandria, Virginia once again.

The purpose of the visit was first of all to visit family and friends besides my wife attending a conference in Pittsburgh, but we got to do some sightseeing as well, so rest assure that the round trip will result in many blog articles. I have seen several memorials, Colonial Williamsburg, 2 state capitols, 3 presidential graves (two of them for the first time), one Romanov-related grave, 3 cemeteries (again two of them for the first time), several museums and much more. Of course I had to do several "children-friendly" things as well, as for instance several children's museums, a farmpark and Pittsburgh Zoo, but they will most likely not be covered in my blog. The most pleasant surprise was perhaps Old Town Alexandria in Virginia. Don't spend all your days exploring Washington DC. Go to Alexandria! Or stay in Alexandria (or Arlington), as the hotels are usually cheaper there, and take day visits to DC instead!

There are also many other blog articles waiting to be written, about numerous cemetery visits in and outside Oslo and other visits I have made in Norway and abroad. It is just a matter of getting the time to write...

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This blog is written by Dag T. Hoelseth, a Norwegian historian specialising in royal history.
I have a Cand.philol. degree in history from the University of Oslo and graduated in 1997 with the dissertation Det nasjonale kongedømme. Det norske monarkiet 1905-1910, which dealt with the royal election in Norway 1905 and how the new dynasty "became Norwegian".
I am the author of Historisk utredning om Kongehuset, dets apanasjer og disponible statseiendommer, which was published on behalf of the Palace Committee in 2001. The report focused among others on the history of the Norwegian civil list from 1905 to the 1970s as well as the properties the king of Norway has to his disposal.
I have made contributions to several antologies and also written articles for various publications. More often I have operated "behind the scene", consulting newspapers etc. with background information.
Among my other interests are genealogy, Norwegian-American emigration history, US presidential history, traveling, football and ice hockey.